Across The Pond

A young Red Jade begins to climb up a tree into a cable wire.

Those living in the U.S. or the British isles might think this post talks about the other side of the Atlantic ocean. But not really. It is literally what's across the pond, or shall I say, what's crossing the pond.

My father has developed a fondness for the Red Jade vine ever since he saw how beautiful and graceful it flowers. After fixing the damaged pergola for the Red Jade and building another one for two more Red Jades (see previous post), he thought it would be great if the vine would cross over the pond onto the opposite side. He was envisioning how the flowers would get showcased when it begins to bloom; how the dangling cluster of flowers would look really nice as they hang in a row above the pond.

To achieve this feat Dad fixed two parallel cable wires on two trees, each on the opposite side of the pond. Mom then planted two of her newly propagated Red Jades below each of these trees and trained the vines to climb up into the cable.

Cable wires suspended above the pond for the Red Jade vine to climb on.

As you can see from the pictures above, this "poor" young vine has a lot of growing to do and a long way to go before it could cross to the other side of the pond or at least meet the other Red Jade halfway.

It may take a couple of years before my father's vision of a row of Red Jade flowers hanging above the pond comes to fruition... that is, if it goes well according to his plan.

Red Jade Dilemma

Red Jade in full bloom three years ago.

Nature has not been kind to our two beautiful Red Jade vines.

The storms of last year toppled the structures where they were growing, breaking tender branches that would normally bear the beautiful, pendulous clusters of red flowers.

It is inevitable though that these structures will eventually crumble. After all they're just made of bamboos, which rot easily especially in a place where it's wet much of the year and humid all year round.

As a temporary solution, and creatively as well, my father decided to use the main trunks of living plants as posts for the arbors.

As you see from the picture on the right and below, one arbor is now supported by the trunks of three live palm trees on one side. On the other side are three sturdy logs serving as legs of the bamboo latticework.

This particular vine used to hang above the ruins of a long gone gazebo. A storm from last year flattened the bamboo pergola and damaged the plant, breaking most of its branches. Good thing it still survived.

Now it has a new and better home, just on the opposite side of where it used to climb. In a few months it will become lush and hopefully around this month next year it will start to bloom.

And if one vine is not enough, there are two new young Red Jades getting trained to climb into another arbor. One of the young vines is shown in the picture on the left and the other vine is seen on the right side of the picture above.

This new arbor is made of cable wires. These weaving tangle of wires are supported by three mahogany trees. For a storm to bring down this cable arbor, it needs to be strong enough to topple at least one of these trees. But then again, exactly three years ago, a powerful storm did manage to bring down a mighty Narra tree nearby (see picture above or below).

Installing the trellis made of cable wire.

The finished cable wire arbor/trellis.

These structures are just temporary, especially the one with the bamboo top. My wish, budget permitting, is to replace them with sturdier structures like the metal pergola across the pond.

I've been going back and forth, not sure whether to call these structures "arbor" or "pergola". While writing this article I was watching a replay episode of "Yard Crashers" on HGTV and like the host knew my dilemma, he said "if it's a passthrough it's an arbor, if it's a larger structure it's a pergola. There you go! These are pergolas!

Our first water garden

Our tubs, buckets and pails of Lotus plants are getting to be like cry babies, always looking for attention. Not that they make shrieking noises when they need something, they just look sad and limp when they need more water.

Since their roots are confined to small and shallow containers, their water requirements need to be checked often especially during hot and sunny days. This situation was brought to my attention months ago and we had to come up with a quick solution if our Lotuses are to survive in the garden.

Ideally I would have opted for a ground level pond complete with water features and landscaping for a more  natural look. Eventually this is what I'll shoot for, but for now the well-being of the Lotus plants must be addressed as soon as possible.

Thus, we decided to build a bigger container in the form of an above ground pond. This is cheaper, easier to build and easier to maintain than an elaborate, natural-looking pond. So, Dad and his crew went to work and built the pond adjacent to the "mother" garden.

The Lotuses are now happily residing in the pond. Since there are room for more aquatic plants, a Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) and another yet unidentified plant were added. There are also Duckweeds (Lemna minor) which hitchhiked with Lotuses and began to float only after the Lotus containers were submerged in the pond.

We have Umbrella Papyrus (Cyperus involucratus) growing in a place where they don't get any attention so I asked Mom to put some in the pond too, but that's after they've been quarantined to make sure they don't harbor snail eggs. Currently they're in isolation at the back porch. It will be a disaster if aquatic snails get into the pond as I mentioned in my older post "What lies beneath..."

To solve the potential problem of the pond becoming a breeding ground for blood-sucking, virus-carrying mosquitoes, we added some fishes as well. There are a few Tilapias, young Kois and Comets contently living in the pond.

To keep the color of the pond from turning completely green due to algal bloom and the water healthy for the fishes, fresh water is added daily delivered by a hose connected to a spring-fed source.

A pond can be classified as a fishpond, koi pond, wildlife pond or a water garden. So, is this structure a fishpond or a water garden? Definitely a water garden. Although fishes can be added in a water garden they are not the main attraction of the pond but rather the various species of aquatic plants. The plants take the center stage while the fishes are just extras.

Someday, if the forces from above are willing, there will be more ponds and water gardens in different parts of the farm.

I'm still passionately feeling blue...

Oh, but this has nothing to do with that hideous monstrosity in my previous post. I haven't gotten over that yet but we need to move on.

The Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea) vines crawling up the four corners of the steel pergola are experiencing a growth spurt. There is an abundance of exotic flowers gracing the garden with an irresistable display of beauty.

The Blue Passion Flower vines are busy putting up a show.

And more are coming. In no time they too will unfurl their yet hidden beauties.

Aside from the flowers the vines too are creeping and crawling like crazy. And their spiraled tendrils are reaching out for the closest object to latch on to for support.

While they are busy flowering the vines are also busy filling in the spaces at the top of the pergola.

Soon the creeping vines will completely cover the top of the pergola. Eventually they will provide a completely shaded area underneath. This shady area will then be an ideal place to hang out at any time of the day, as long as it's not raining of course. This is what I'm aiming for, a cool place for an outdoor breakfast, lunch or dinner, a picnic area or just a place to relax and unwind.
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Hold your ground

"Summer" is officially here. It's when the north-easterly winds cease to bring cool air from the north. And "summer" ends around late May when the wet season officially begins.

While the succeeding days are still dry there is one project that must be completed before the arrival of the rainy season. There's an area along the dirt road that needs a retaining wall to hold the ground on one side and keep it from eroding into the road.

This path along the row of black bamboos need a retaining wall to prevent the soil from sliding.

My original plan was to use stones for the retaining wall. But as I found out while on a visit to the farm last February, it's impractical to use stones as they turn out to be very expensive. In our place, how stones are sold depend on the size. The big ones are sold by piece, smaller ones are sold in bulk and priced per square meter. Unfortunately, the stones we need do not fit in the "small" category so they are sold by piece and the price per piece is not cheap.

The area getting prepared for the installation of the wall.

Budget, the number one factor in any of our projects, prompted me to think of other options. Thus I decided to choose reinforced hollow (cinder) blocks instead. It may not be as good looking as natural stones but the price difference is very significant. Stone veneer could be used later on to cover the surface of the wall.

For height comparison, our garden helper working near the edge of the area that needs a retaining wall.

Since part of the area that needs a wall is over seven feet tall, Dad said that it would be better and safer to build a two-tiered wall, in a terraced-like form. This will stabilize the soil better and reduce the pressure exerted by the ground on the wall, minimizing any possibility of damage.

A two-tiered retaining wall will also create a planting area between the walls. And I already know which plants to put there. This will be a two part project, the lower and upper walls. The lower wall project has already been funded so now it's a go.
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Garden Structures: The gazebo in the hill

"It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is best from the top."
- Arnold Bennett

The hill is the highest point in the farm. It accords a view of the river below and the valley beyond. In the afternoon while the rest of the farm is exposed to the heat of the sun, there is a refreshingly cool breeze that blows gently in this area. The river below must have a cooling effect on this gentle wind as it crosses this body of water on its way up the hill.

It's so nice to spend the rest of the afternoon in this area if only there's a shady place to stay under, like some leafy trees perhaps. However, only Cogon grass and other weeds grow here. Early last year we built a small and crude tin-roofed hut. This temporarily solved the shade problem. Unfortunately months later a passing storm carried the hut away.

The hilltop view, a new temporary gazebo and some newly installed plants.

The simple gazebo in these pictures was not originally a gazebo. It was recycled from parts of the structure that used to house the goats after they were relocated to their new and better house. When the nasty October storm pummeled the farm, it destroyed this abandoned goat's house but luckily it left the roof intact.

The hilltop cleared of the Cogon grass that dominates the place.

Since the crude hut at the hill is gone and there is this perfectly good roof that has no use at the moment, my father thought of using it to build a new shelter to replace the old hut that seemed to have suddenly vanished into thin air.

New plants on the slope of the hill. More will be planted soon to make this a 'greener' place.

After the structure has been erected, the surrounding area was groomed with plants from the nursery and some of the plants that were removed from the entrance to the farm when the landscaping there was completely redone. More plants will be installed soon and hopefully stunt the growth of the Cogon grass.

And what is a gazebo without a place to sit on? The wooden chairs below were just sitting in the storage so why not use them instead. They need a bit of refinishing but since this is the outdoors their weathered look fits perfectly with the surroundings.

An old Narra furniture set from the storage.

All in all, I consider this project "eco-friendly" in that the materials used were all recycled, from the roof down to the furnitures, and even the plants.

What I'm afraid of is that this structure might get blown away again once another strong storm comes. It's the wind that would actually cause more damage than the rain. I have something else in mind that should solve this problem, a different type of gazebo that can be "folded" whenever necessity dictates it. But the rainy season is still a couple of months away so for now this structure will do.
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Garden Structures: First Pergola

Several months ago in my "Gimme Shelter" post, I mentioned about my plans to resurrect an old gazebo long gone, but with a new twist. As it turned out, this project became more complicated after the passing of the October storm that brought devastation to the farm. I will delve on this topic deeper in one of my future posts.

All is not lost though. Somewhere near the shore of another fishpond was a remnant of another long gone gazebo. Since we could not build on the original planned site, I decided to build on this site instead. And on this location will rise a pergola.

Where the pergola will be located.

In my long distance phone conversation with my dear father, he suggested that we use a sturdy material for the pergola so that it won't easily rot and even a strong storm cannot blow it away. So instead of wood, we settled for steel pipes. The project was funded and the construction commenced.

Construction of the latticework.

Assembling the pergola.

Assembling the pergola as seen from another angle.

With the pergola complete, all it needs now is a plant to climb up and fill the spaces on top. For this, I decided to use the Blue Passion Flower (Passiflora caerulea) vine which was growing passionately in the nursery. Then I was told that it was one of the storm casualties. The vine's main trunk broke at the very base and it never grew back.

Installing concrete pillars.

For now the pergola will have to wait for its permanent occupant. We ordered four pots of the Blue Passion from my mother's favorite garden store, which should be available by the latter part of this month.

But we are not done yet with this project. As you can see, the concrete floor of the old gazebo has cracked in several places. It needs a new coat of concrete to level the floor. I'm thinking of laying terracotta tiles on top of this concrete to lend a rustic look. Then we need to landscape the surrounding areas. So it means more plants are needed. Whew, and I thought this endeavor was supposedly simple.

It looks like one of the projects I mentioned in my "What's in store for 2011" entry on Fer's Garden Carnival is on its way to fruition.